True Mates
by BlackLynx17
Summary: Mest Gryder discovers what it's like find a true mate, court her, and somehow get her to be his.


**BlackLynx17: Finally posting this one-shot I wrote two-three weeks ago! I just stared a ko-fi page so please considering buying me a coffee! ko-fi/blacklynx17. Thanks for reading and your reviews!**

* * *

_True Mates_

* * *

"Okay boys and girls! Class please settle down now. Let's pick up from where we left off last time. Now does anyone remember what we were discussing? Anyone? Anyone at all?"

A hand raises in the air, "we were discussing the different classes of society."

"Yes, correct! Our society is divided into three classes! The first class is Homo-Sapiens, which are regular humans like myself and our principal. Our second class is the Verses, which is divided into two categories; alphas and omegas. This class look exactly like humans on the outside, but their genetic make-up is completely different. The third class is Zoolist, which also has alpha and omega categories, but the main difference in this class is the animalistic features. An example would be Mr. Farron's feathers covering her arms, or Mr. Gryder's fluffy tail. What brings out these features in Zoolist is the Z-Gene that Verses don't have in their DNA. Now normally Zoolist only have twenty-one Z-Genes in their genetic make-up, but there have been some cases where anything higher has resulted in small mutations. Zoolist with this mutation look more animal than human, but this is only a temporary feature. Zoolist usually grow out of it before they reach adulthood and there's modern medicine now that can be used to help suppress the Z-Gene. Homo-Sapiens, Verses, and Zoolist are the three classes that make up our society. I hope everyone was taking notes because this will be on next week's test. Now if everyone would open their books to chapter seven we can go further into each class and learn more."

Bore. Bore. Bore. Mest's tail swings restlessly side to side as he stares at the board with a dull expression on his face. He's already learned all of this last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, all the way since kindergarten. He knows the classes. He knows he's a special breed. He knows about alphas and omegas, about regular humans and mutts (that's the word his friends call the Zoolist with too much Z-Genes that look like more beasts than men). He knows it all. Why does he have to keep learning the same thing? He's sure that next year he'll have another class just like this... Mest sighs and scratches at his neck. If only something interesting would happen.

"As you can see in the chapter title today we're going to be-"

Ms. Holo is interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. All eyes turn towards it and Mest slowly leans up from his seat as he watches his teacher walk over and open it up.

"Oh, hello there. You must be the new student; I was expecting you nearly twenty minutes ago."

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I got lost and... was sitting in the wrong classroom before I was informed that it wasn't the right one."

Mest snorts a little to himself. That sounds hilarious; he wishes he was in that class to witness that. Ms. Holo stands aside and let's the new student enter. Whispers consume the room as she walks into the room. Mest's jaw goes a little slack as he stares at... scales. Wendy Marvell was that special class of Zoolist. From the back she looked normal, no tail, wings, or feathers, long dark blue hair in a high ponytail. As soon as she turned around you could see it- her ears were pointy, one of her hands having... claws for fingertips, and half of her face was covered in scales. They were a dark blue color matching her hair from the right side of her neck up to her cheek before it faded away. She stood in front of the class fidgeting a little, but when she faced the class she smiled brightly to seem friendly revealing sharp fangs.

Dragon.

They were rare, extremely rare, so rare they almost seemed extinct. Even if two dragons mated chances of their children also being a dragon were close to zero. Whatever gene had that genetic code always skipped several generations. For a dragon to actually birth another dragon... it was unheard of. While all his other classmates were freaking out seeing a dragon, a mutt dragon at that, Mest was freaking out for a different reason.

Those eyes... her scent... it consumed him.

"Everyone meet Wendy Marvell. This is her first day here at school, so let's all show her a nice and warm welcome."

Wendy Marvell. She was an omega dragon... and she was his mate.

* * *

According to the rules of 'society' when an alpha wishes to claim an omega they have to go through 'courtship'. An alpha cannot court an omega without their permission. An alpha cannot force a claim on an omega without consent and worse of all, even if the alpha and omega were true mates, both of them have the choice to ignore their instincts and break the bond. If Mest wants the new girl to be his he was going to have to court her... but instead of talking to her after class like any normal alpha would do, he stalked her instead... all day... completely terrified to talk to her.

It was a weird experience. It feels like... a pull, a bond, tugging him towards her. All he wants to do is fall to her feet and beg her to accept him, which wasn't like him at all. Mest liked being independent; he didn't care much for dating. He was an alpha, a wolf type alpha. He was literally a lone wolf type... yet he felt like a puppy with his legs between his legs around her. By the time school ended he was still stalking her, walking a good block or two behind her hidden away behind other students. Soon the students thinned out though and he was left with barely any coverage. It was at that moment that his future mate stopped walking and turned around. Mest quickly flinches and ducks behind a street lamp, pulling out his phone and leaning against it pretending he isn't paying attention to the world.

Wendy's tiny nose sniffs the air a couple of times. Slowly she starts walking over towards him; no, Mest is kidding himself, she was probably heading someplace else. With each step she takes in his direction though the faster his heart began to race. Her scent begins to consume his being and he starts feeling light headed. He waits for her to walk by him; he waits for her to get a safe distance away before he can stalk her again. Wendy keeps sniffing and sniffing until it leads her to him though. She leans up close and sniffs at his neck.

Mest exclaims and throws his phone up in the air, certainly not expecting that. Her eyes are so bright and brown and the scales on her face... they are shining and sparkling. She is beautiful. Absolutely breathtaking.

"Sorry! I've just been smelling this scent all day and I didn't know what smelled so good, but now I can see that it's you. Hello there, my name is Wendy." She grins a toothy grin at him.

Mest gulps, it being the hardest thing he's ever had to do, "hi. Hi. I'm Mest."

"Mest, nice to meet you. Do you go to my school? Ah- duh, of course you do, you're wearing our school uniform. You smell really nice, are you an alpha? Are you perhaps my alpha? I've hung around a bunch of alphas before and they've never smelled as nice as you do. Hmm, I would have preferred a different type, I like cats better than dogs, but you are pretty cute. You're certainly more fluffy than Charlie."

Wendy reaches out and strokes the top of Mest's ears. He doesn't know what's going on, but he feels a shock run through his entire body and his tag wags happily behind him as he leans down into her touch.

"Yeah, definitely a cutie pie."

"I have no idea what's going on right now." Mest growls softly.

Wendy moves her hand away and giggles lightly, "that's okay, I have that effect on people a lot believe it or not. Well Mest, it was nice meeting you, but I'm afraid I must get home. I'll see you later."

She turns and continues her walk home. Mest blinks and wakes up out of his daze. He shakes his head a little before realizing that she's leaving him. Without even realizing it he's running after her.

"Wait! Wendy! Wait up!"

He catches up to her and walks by her side. She turns over and stares up at him, blinking a few times.

"Yes Mest?"

"You're leaving me? I mean- hold on-ugh, this is hard. Listen, I've never done this true mate thing- I honestly have no idea what I'm doing, but from what I've been learning every since kindergarten if an alpha wants to court an omega they have to have permission… so here I am… asking permission… if you're interested."

She quietly stares at him for a full minute before whispering, "true mate?"

He flinches, "ah- yeah… at least I think that is what this is. All I know is when you walked into my class this morning I wanted to claim you as my own. I've heard of alphas and omegas being attracted to each other before, but this was more like a tug, a pull…"

Wendy blinks a couple of times before looking down at her toes, "hmm… I don't know about that."

He tries to hide his heartbreak, but it shows completely on his face, "I'm… sorry. I must have read things wrong- I'll leave you alone forever now. Sorry for bothering you."

He turns to leave, but she reaches out and grabs him. Mest flinches when he feels cold claws digging into his arm. Wendy gasps and pulls away, hiding her right hand in her chest.

"Sorry! Sorry… I know some people find Zoolists like myself… unappealing."

"No that's not it at all! You're hands were just cold, that's all! I swear! Or well- your claws were cold, but I'm prepared now!" Mest yells grabbing her claw hand.

Wendy looks up at him and giggles to herself, "you're really weird."

"Is weird good? Do you like weird? I can be weirder."

His ears perk up and his tail wags side to side happily.

"I should be asking you that. Don't I look weird to you?"

"Of course not! You look absolutely beautiful!" Mest answers in an instant.

He reaches out and cuffs her face, brushing his fingers against her scales. They feel exactly as how you would expect them to feel, dry and really rough, but they're warm and he loves how her face heats up under his intense stare.

"You like the way I look?" She whispers.

"Yes, I like it a lot."

Wendy bites her bottom lip, "and you wouldn't… make fun of me, right?"

"Never! And you tell me if anyone ever does because I'll make sure they never do it again! I'll ever beat my friends if they ever talked about you! I know they like to joke around, but know I never do! I'll protect you!"

"I… I don't know. I like your smell and I feel the tug that you described, but um… well let's just say I don't have the best record of dating alphas. I don't want to be controlled by our basic instincts. Maybe we can be friends first? And if you're a nice alpha I'll consider allowing you to court me. Would that be… alright?"

"Of course! You don't have to ask me, you're allowed to refuse! I would never want to force anything on you! I'm just happy you're even giving me the chance to be your friend! I would love that!"

Wendy stares at him blankly before smiling lightly, "you really are a weird alpha."

"What type of alphas do you keep company?"

"Funny ones, it's the alphas I date that are the normal jerk ones. Let's just say not a lot of alphas know what the word no means and a lot of others are mean."

"Well if you still have their names and know where they live I could go beat them up for you."

Wendy giggles and shakes her head at him, "nah, I don't waste my time worrying about them. Just in case I happen to run into one of them on my way home though… do you think you could walk me home?"

"Nothing would give me more pleasure."

Wendy bumps into him as she passes by, continuing down the street. Mest walks right behind her with a goofy smile on his face, his tail brushing against her back every once in a while.

* * *

"Flowers."

"Flowers?" Mest repeats questionably.

"Yeah, lots of them. And chocolates- no, I should cut down on my sweets, maybe one chocolate? Or one piece of candy? Or a really big gummy bear!" Wendy cheers.

"What is she talking about?" Mest asks turning towards their friends.

"Grand gestures," Natsu mumbles slurping up some ramen.

"Huh?"

"I don't know, but I want it to be something amazing. A grand gesture! Something that will leave me speechless with no other choice but to say yes. Yup, that's what I want. Did you get all that?"

"Uh…" he was completely lost.

"She's thinking of letting you court her dumbass. Isn't that the reason you've been intruding on us and bothering the shit out of us with your presence?" Gajeel snorts.

Mest blinks and snaps his head toward Wendy, seeing her smile and nod her head at him.

"Wendy are you sure? I hear wolves are like dogs and I thought you like cats better," Natsu burps.

"Well Mest is a cute dog, so I don't mind it so much. Isn't that right?" Wendy coos scratching at his ear.

"Ah! Wendy! I told you not to do that!" He exclaims shaking his head away.

"Really? I thought you liked it- oh I remember now, you said not in public. Oops," she giggles innocently.

"I don't want to see this, I'm leaving. Wendy, Dad wants you to come over tonight; he's making your favorite. Try not to be early because dinner is surely going to be late," Natsu says standing up.

"Okay Natsu! Will do!"

"I'm going to borrow your future mate as well, come walk with me Mest."

"What? No- hold on a second- ah!"

Natsu doesn't listen to a word Mest says as he grabs the back of his collar and tugs him out of his seat. He begins to drag him away, and despite Mest trying to fight back, he's no where near strong enough. Stupid dragon strength.

"Sorry about this, I'm trying to help you believe it or not. Word of advice, if you think 'is this enough' to any of the things you buy her… it's probably not. Wendy is a huge fan of romance novels and some romance movies, she thinks most movies are trash so I wouldn't dress up like a prince or sing her a song or anything like that… although she is a sucker for disney movies… no, don't do that."

Mest blinks and nods his head; he pulls out his phone and starts typing down all this as notes.

"She always gets like this whenever she's accepting a new alpha courting, so it always has to be bigger and better than the last one or else she'll refuse-"

"Just how many alphas has she been with before?"

Natsu pulls out a candy bar from his pocket and rips it open with his teeth. He takes a bite as he chews and thinks it over.

"... well the first one was Tony. He was part tiger and courted her when they were in the third grade. That lasted for about two weeks until he took her cookie from her lunch without asking and she broke it off immediately."

Mest snorts and chuckles lightly to himself.

"The next one she had was Kenny, he was a normal human. She dated him in middle school for six months. I think he broke up with her because he couldn't get used to being with a Zoolist. Sometimes it's hard for humans to date Verses/Zoolists. Her rebound was Kyle and that lasted for a couple of days, I don't remember what he was. And then her last boyfriend was Derrick… ugh I hated that creep. He seemed like a good guy, but once I heard him talking trash to her and then I beat the shit out of him. After that I found out he was talking down and calling her a mutt. There's nothing wrong with the way she looks; I'm exactly the same and yet people think I'm amazing and attractive while they talk down to my little cousin? Fucking basterds," Natsu growls, smoke escaping from his lips.

Mest blinks and frowns, "she mentioned that before… she asked me if I would ever make fun of her…"

"Because of that asswipe. I like you though Mest. I see how much she likes you, how much you make her happy, and to be honest I've been enjoying you bend over backwards trying to impress my cuz, so I'm rooting for you. I know you wouldn't hurt her and Wendy told me you called her your true mate. Is that true?"

"Yeah. From the minute I saw her… I knew she was supposed to be mine."

Natsu places his hand on his shoulder and grins, "good. I know you won't hurt Wendy, so let's give her the biggest, grandest gesture tomorrow so she'll have no choice but to say yes. Now if you don't mind embarrassing yourself in front of others you could do it at school, but if you want it to be private I would definitely recommend catching her before she leaves for school."

* * *

"Mom I'm heading out now!" Wendy yells out loudly.

She hears her mother groan out and giggles. Her mom can't function without her morning coffee and she forgot to set the timer to make some this morning. Wendy puts her shoes on and opens the door, grabbing her bag off the hanger excited for the new day. She takes one step outside, looks up, and gasps. Mest stands on the other side, ears pressed down against his head, a giant bouquet of flowers in one hand, a ginormous dragon plush in his other, cheeks a bit flustered. He clears his throat and then all of a sudden music begins to play, her favorite song! She ignores Natsu hiding in the bushes, no doubt being the one to push play (she can see his horns sticking out from the bushes).

"Grand enough?" Mest shrugs.

"Is that a dragon plush?" She asks.

"Yeah, you don't know how many stores I had to go to find one this big and the right color."

Wendy reaches out for it and hugs the plush close to face, "it's blue just like me. Where did you end up finding him?"

"At this weird dungeons and dragons store; this dragon is apparently a character called Vickser? But I've renamed her Wendy."

Wendy giggles and kisses the plush before she holds out her hand. Mest hands her the flowers next and she takes a long sniff, loving the scent that tickles her nose.

"I love them."

"Great! I'm glad- and uh the grandest gesture of all… I got us tickets to Princess Adventureland. What do you say to spending our first date ditching school and going on rides?"

Wendy takes a step back inside of her house and places her flowers and plush gently down on the floor. She walks back over to Mest and wiggles her fingers, motioning for him to lean down. Mest blinks and does, leaning down close enough for her to wrap her arms around his neck. Wendy leans up on her tiptoes and bites down on Mest's neck, breaking the skin and leaving a mark. Mest completely stiffens up; inside of his mind he recalls all of his old lessons on when an omega accept an alpha's courting they bite the neck of their intended.

She pulls away and grins brightly at him, "mind if I change into something cuter real quick?"

His tail and ears perk up as he stares at her. He nods his head over and over again; Wendy giggles and winks before she runs back inside. Mest stands there with a goofy smile on his face and raises a hand to touch his neck; it hurts, he feels it. Natsu pops out of the bush with leaves in his hair. He trips as he tries getting out of it, pushing the stop on the speaker as he walks over.

"Glad that worked, I'm going to head out now. You totally got this man, have fun… also I'm obligated to say this, even though I know you wouldn't, but if you hurt her I'll cut off your tail, cook it, and eat it right in front of you. Okay, bye now!" Natsu laughs patting his back.

Despite him being a handful sometimes… Natsu was a true wing-man.

* * *

"Ow, Wendy!"

His tiny girlfriend giggles as she gnaws on his wrist, completely happy right now. Turns out there are some things school hasn't taught him about courting. He knows there are certain rules depending on certain species, you can never touch a feline-types tail, dog-types love having their ears touched, never feed bird-types crackers. He didn't get to learn anything about dragon-types since they're so rare, so this whole experience has been new. He's learned that dragons often bite whenever they're happy, or maybe that was just Wendy, and they like to mark their property, maybe that's the reason she bites him so much to leave her mark on him. Dragons don't like sharing, especially food, and Mest learned that the hard way when she nearly bit his hand off, but they're not afraid to steal his own food whenever she feels like it. Sometimes she shares though… and she's absolutely adorable when she offers him a bite from her plate. She loved being scratched against her scales, she didn't like her ears touched which is why she has long hair to hide them, she doesn't like the rain, she loves going to the beach and just lying on the sand underneath the sun, and kissing is very… very… very interesting because of how sensitive her dragon fangs seem to be.

"Can I have my wrist back love?" Mest asks her.

Wendy lets go and licks his wound, a bright smile on her face as she leans into his arm and rubs her face into it. She's been a lot more affectionate with him these past couple of days.

"Wendy, have you taken your medication?" Natsu asks.

"Hmmm-Mom's getting me a refill." She purrs.

"That explains it." He says before going back to his eating.

"Explains what?" Mest asks.

"Her clingingness. She always gets like this whenever her heat is coming. Haven't you noticed the difference in her? She's actually hanging over you instead of the food in front of her."

Mest blinks and stares down, noticing she hasn't touch a single thing, "oh my God it's true. I just thought she… your right this makes no sense."

"Mest tastes better than food though, I don't want food. I like Mest better." Wendy pouts.

"Alright I'm calling Auntie. Does she smell any different from normal Mest? I think she might be getting it early."

"She smells," Mest takes a deep inhale of her hair and resists the urge to growl out loudly, "sweeter than usual."

"I'm surprised she's not effecting you."

"I have more self-control than that… plus whenever my mind does wander to that she bites me and all I feel is pain."

"Cool story bro, hold that thought. Hello Auntie?... Yeah, Wendy's going into heat. Can you come pick her up?... Well yes she's seeing someone… no she cannot spend her heat with him! I don't want Mest touching her! And I'm sure Wendy doesn't want that as well-... I'm not being overprotective!... So you're saying your job is more important than your daughter's virtue?!"

Natsu growls out loudly, smoke escaping from his lips. Wendy turns over and stares at Natsu, giggling lightly. She starts blowing out smoke from her mouth as well making the air smell like charcoal. Mest watches with his eyebrows raised; he wasn't aware she could do that. Natsu only seemed to do it when he was angry, but could Wendy do it whenever? Could she also breath fire? Can Natsu breath fire? If they can he's going to have to take notes because he doesn't want to be burned while kissing his girlfriend.

"Fine! Bye! Dammit, Mest you're taking Wendy home and don't you even think about taking advantage of her!"

Mest looks up from sniffing his delicious mate and blinks once, "... huh?"

* * *

"Oooh."

Mest wiggles his nose and has to cover it up with his hand. A rush of his mate's sweet scent consumes his nostrils and has the fur on his tail sticking up. It smells so strongly of her, of strawberries and sugar. Whatever other scents were mixed in he couldn't really notice, but Wendy was everywhere. Speaking of Wendy, she ditched him the minute she unlocked the door and threw all her things on the floor before climbing up the stairs. Mest takes a couple of minutes getting used to the scent. He's glad he already took his medicine for his rut earlier this month or else this would have been a lot harder. Once his head is back on straight he's finally able to close her door and lock it, being enclosed in this space.

He does what any normal boyfriend would do and picks up after his messy girlfriend. He puts her shoes away correctly, places her bag on the counter, and walks over into the kitchen. Natsu mentioned her medicine being on the counter in a white prescription bag and sure enough he finds it when he enters the room. Reading over the instructions, he takes two pills out, fills a glass of water, and follows his girlfriend upstairs. It should have been hard to track her since her scent is everywhere, but he guesses she's inside the bedroom with the door wide open.

"Wendy? I got your medicine, I'm coming in." He announces before walking in.

His tiny girlfriend is lying face first on her bed. Her jacket is discarded on the floor, her socks dangling off the bed, one halfway off like she got tired and just collapsed. He takes a small breath and exhales, chuckling as he walks over and places everything on her nightstand.

"Come on darling, you'll feel better once you take this. Can you lean up for me please? Just for a minute?"

Wendy groans as he manhandles her; Mest rolls her around and coughs loudly, diverting his eyes to her interesting ceiling. Seems like Wendy felt a little hot and decided to unbutton the top few buttons to her shirt.

"T-t-take this," he stutters handing her the pills.

"If I do will you cuddle with me? You're so cool, I like it." Wendy hums leaning into his embrace.

"I don't- Natsu said to take you home and make sure you took your-"

"Please? Please Mest? I'll love you forever!" She cheers cutely.

Mest makes the mistake to look into her eyes and he knows he can't say no when she's begging this cutely. He sighs and presses the pills against her lip, watching her take them before handing her a glass of water.

"Drink it all and I'll lay with you for a few minutes."

Her eyes seem to sparkly as she finishes the glass in one gulp. She hands him back the glass before scooting over, pulling the covers up and crawling underneath them. Mest stands up and takes his belt off, placing it on the nightstand. He takes his tie off next, and then his jacket, before joining her on the bed. He expects to just be held on to, but she hops on top of him and snuggles against his chest. Yet again, Mest's mind goes completely blank as she presses up her entire body against him. He moves his tail out of the bed and wraps a hand around her waist, rubbing his thumb against her side. Wendy sighs out peacefully as she lifts up one of her hands, running it through Mest's hair and petting his ear. Her other hand is placed softly against his chest, feeling his heart, and for a second Mest completely relaxes before he flinches.

"Ah- Wendy! No biting!"

Part of him should feel proud that she's so happy and relaxed with him that she's biting him, but still that shit hurts. Wendy simply giggles and gnaws on his neck lightly, resuming her petting and massaging as she rests her eyes. She falls asleep pretty quickly on top of him. When Mest hears her loud snores he looks down at them and wonders… how on Earth he's going to escape out of this. She's completely entangled with him, her whole body lying on top of his, hands on his ear, teeth wrapped around his throat occasionally biting down in her sleep.

…

He's not going to escape this. He has no other choice; Mest sighs out and relaxes in her embrace, letting sleep consume his as well.

* * *

"Hmm…"

There's a ringing in the back of his mind. Mest doesn't want to hear it, so he buries his face deeper into his pillow and ignores it. He feels so good right now, soft tingles running down his body. He thinks maybe he falls asleep again, but then that ringing happens once more, and Mest realizes… his pillow is really warm… and moving… and has a heartbeat. He groans as he begins to wake away, suddenly aware of the hands brushing against his ears.

"Wendy?" He whispers out.

It takes a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The last time he was awake it was sunny out, but now it's pitch black. He's too comfortable to move, so he just lays there and tilts his head up. Wendy's eyes seem to have a ring of gold around the brown at night as he meets her eyes.

"Hey, sorry about all this. I always get really cuddly and want another body to worm on when my heats are close."

Mest blinks at her, "am I the only mate you've done this to?"

She bites her bottom lip, "no… I've only done this once with a potential mate, but that time was an accident… just like this time. I usually use Natsu or my Mom. Sorry I used you as a pillow slash chew toy."

He doesn't have enough energy to feel jealous- that's a complete lie, but nothing good will come from him getting jealous. He should just make sure that never happens again by staying with her.

"If it makes you feel any better I liked being with you the best. You make the cutest noises in your sleep."

"I don't mind. I rather you do it with me than anyone else, and I have to admit you are very squishy. I'll be your pillow anytime you want… just maybe not your chew toy."

Wendy's laughter fills her room. She taps Mest's shoulder, making him lean up and move closer towards her. She reaches out and kisses him gently on the lips, Mest returning the gesture as their tongues dance against each other.

"I love you Mest."

"I love you too Wendy."

"No, I mean… I love that you're my true mate. I really, really… love you. I know it won't last until we're mated, and I don't want to mate until I at least graduate high school, but… could you perhaps…." her sentence trails off.

Mest blinks and pulls away softly, trying to make out her face in the darkness.

"Yes?"

"Could you… could…" her face turns red.

She can't say it, she's too embarrassed to say it, so instead she shows. Wendy grabs his hand roughly and brings it to her lips, biting down on his hand. Mest stares at her for a second before he gets it. His eyes widen and a soft oh escapes his lips before he's leaning over reaching for her neck. Wendy bears it for him and Mest has to keep down his desires inside from her submission. He bites down on her neck softly, licking the spot before his teeth sinks in. It's not a claim mark; it won't last forever on her neck. Claim marks don't last unless they're done while mating, but it is a mark of his intentions. She will be known as his now, his scent lingering along with hers.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, you bit me with no hesitation when you placed your mark on me." Mest tells her.

"I know… it's just… I've never done this before." She whispers.

She's never let one of her courting mates bite her? A pride swells up inside of his chest and he kisses his mark.

"I've never let anyone bite me either; we're both new and inexperienced with this. Don't worry, we'll learn together."

Wendy looks at him and smiles softly. She starts petting him behind the ears, right in his favorite spot that has him growling out loudly. She giggles when she spies his tail wagging side to side and wonders how she got the cutest boyfriend ever.

* * *

"Hey Mrs. Marvell, how is it going?"

"Oh Mest! Look at you, you always get handsomer everytime I see you." Mrs. Marvell says pinching his cheek.

"Thanks. I came here to check on Wendy. She hasn't been to school lately and she hasn't answered my calls recently… I bought a whole bunch of medicine and some soup from the chinese store next to my house." Mest says offering the bag.

Mrs. Marvell looks at him before laughing out loudly. See laughs so hard she cries and Mest is just standing there awkwardly with his arm raised up in the air. Once she calms down she accepts his gift with a smile.

"Thanks Mest, you're a good mate. Go ahead and see Wendy, she's just-... well, you'll see. That silly girl," Mrs. Marvell shakes her head as she lets him in.

"Thanks…."

Mest walks past her and heads up the stairs, knowing how to get to her room. He knocks on the door a couple of times before opening it, finding it strange for it to be close since she always leaves it open.

"Wendy? Hello-"

"GET OUT!" She growls at him.

It surprises him, has him shaking in his boots, and he jumps back and runs into the wall. He takes a small breath and blinks…

"Wendy?"

Mest takes a step closer… and then another… peeking back inside of the room. It's covered in smog and it's all coming from underneath her covers. He has the choice now… he can go in and risk her biting his hand off… or he can run away and come see her another time…

He hasn't seen her for a week now…

Mest walks over and sits down at the edge of her bed. He places a hand on her, or at least what he thinks is her in this lump under the blankets Now that he's closer he can hear her soft sniffles and smell her tears; is she crying right now?

"I-" … Mest closes his mouth and shakes his head.

He scoots onto the bed and lays down next to her, curling up around her small ball form. He waves his tail and brushes against her, closing his eyes. His mother used to do this all the time when he was a child. Whenever he had a bad day and didn't want to talk about it she would lay next to him in bed and brush her tail against his back. It would always make him calm down until he was ready to talk about it. She stops growling at him so that's a good sign. Mest takes a small breath and relaxes.

"You… you didn't-..."

"Hmm?" Mest hums brushing his tail against her again.

He jumps a little when he feels her hands reach out and grab it. His tail wasn't like his ears, they weren't sensitive in a good way, but in a very this-is-my-weakness-bad way. She loosens her grip and runs her fingers through his fur. He tries his best to keep calm and not move his tail away from her.

"You didn't fall in love with me because of my looks, right?" She mumbles.

"What? Who told you such a thing? No, I fell in love with you because of my natural instincts-ah!" Mest grunts when she jabs him in the stomach.

She begins to crawl away from him under the covers, but Mest laughs and pulls her back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was trying to make you laugh. Sure instincts had something to do with us, but I don't think it's everything. I've really fallen for how sweet and kind you are, how beautiful your smile is, how bright and brown your eyes are, how rough the scales on your cheeks are and how red they get whenever I caress them-"

"So my looks!" Wendy exclaims.

"Wendy I can't take you seriously underneath your covers. Please come out and just tell me what's the matter." Mest says tugging on the blanket.

"No! Go away! I don't want to see you! Leave me alone!" She growls tugging the blankets back.

They have a tug of war back and forth until finally Mest lets go. Wendy squeals as she goes flying off the bed and lands on the floor with a giant oof.

"Shit- Wendy!"

Mest reaches for her hand and pulls her up; she looks ridiculous with her blanket still covering her face. She tries to pull her hand away, but he holds on tightly and refuses to let go.

"Wendy you can talk to me, I'm your boyfriend. Nothing is going to change tha-..."

… why aren't her claws digging into him? He's holding her right hand, he knows he has to be careful since one time she accidentally scratched him, so now he's always careful when he holds her hand… but her hand looks normal. No claws, no scales… nothing of the sort. Mest blinks and lets go of her hand. He slowly tugs on the blanket and pulls it off of her. Wendy stands in front of him with tears in her eyes, smog escaping her lips every time she hiccups. His eyes widen as he stares at her face. Her patch of scales on her cheek… it's smaller than before… some of them seem like they're about to fall off right now. Mest reaches out and cups her cheeks, the second he touches it though a scale falls off and he flinches back.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Wendy cries out loud.

"Wendy?"

"Mom says I'm molting! It's what dragons do when we grow up! It's basically puberty! I have already lost my claws, now I'm losing my scales, and then it's going to be my ears and you love my ears and I'm not going to be the same anymore! I'm going to look different and I don't want to look different! I want to look the same! I don't want to start breathing fire like Natsu! He burns down my room all the time!" Wendy cries out loudly, more smog escaping her lips.

Mest coughs and waves it all away. He reaches out and pulls her into his chest, holding her tightly and patting the top of her head.

"Wendy it doesn't matter if you lose scales or gain them, grow wings, sharper claws, more ears, anything like that I'll still love you because you're you. I'm sorry for teasing you, sure I fell for you because of your looks, but that's not the only reason. That's not the main reason. I love you so much Wendy because… you make my life so much happier when you're in it."

Wendy sniffs and looks up, tears escaping her eyes, "weally?"

"Yes, really. I love you so much Wendy… and I would kiss you to prove it, but I'm scared that you might burn my lips, hahahaha."

Wendy frowns at him, which makes him stop immediately.

"Sorry, I should stop trying to make jokes to make you stop crying. So this is what you were so scared of? So what if you're body is going through a couple of changes, if it makes you feel better I'll show you pictures of me when I hit puberty in middle school. I looked completely awful, you probably would have stayed the hell away from me. My fur was all short and choppy, I smelt like wet dog all the time, my fangs were just growing out so my teeth were all crooked, just ugh I shiver even remembering it." He shivers.

Finally Wendy cracks a smile at him and gulps. She breathes out a little and stares, not seeing any smog coming out, before pulling him down and kissing him. Mest eyes go wide as kisses her back, wrapping his arms around her back.

"You still love me?" She whispers quietly.

Mest feels his heart break, "sweetheart nothing in the world could make me stop loving you."

She grins brightly at him and Mest smiles back, leaning back down for another kiss.

* * *

After another two weeks Wendy's official 'molting' stage was over. Mest visited her everyday after school bringing treats and brought movies and games over the weekends. Mrs. Marvell teased Mest about babying her once (and only once because Wendy roared to his rescue and actually breathed out fire lighting the couch on fire). After that she minded her own business, but thought plenty of things.

She was finally free though! Ready to go back to school and see all her friends! Her ears were still in place, the pointy ears Mest loved to flick. Her hands became claws now, both of them, but she could retract them back into normal hands. She liked to surprise Mest by doing so and then giggle when he pouts at her wanting them to turn back. There were no more scales covering her face or anywhere else over her body, but instead wings. Pure white fluffy wings, not only on her back, but on her wrists and ankles as well. She hasn't learned how to fly with them yet, but they were super soft and cuddly. Her hair was also growing out a bright pink now… which was weird, even her mother thought so. When she was born with blue scales Mrs. Marvell looked through her family history and saw a grandfather was a blue dragon, so she thought Wendy could grow up more like Natsu and Igneel than herself. It seems she was gaining her mother's traits though, getting her hair color and now her fluffy wings. There were still unknown things about dragons since they were so rare, it may have been a suppressed gene that won during her molting. Wendy liked her dark blue hair and missed her blue scales, but Mest got a kick out of all the pink and called her Pinkie now.

She grew taller, which was a big plus! And probably the best thing that came from the molting. She grew a bit bigger everywhere, especially in some departments that made her smirk and chuckle to herself quietly. Mest certainly noticed and would blush whenever she used her new found powers for evil. She was a woman now! (She whispered to herself when she looked into the mirror).

"Wendy! Mest is here!"

"I'll be down in a minute!"

Wendy brushes her hair into a high ponytail and looks at herself in the mirror. She looks adorable… to Mest. Honestly she only thinks she looks pretty now because of Mest. Wendy liked how she looked before, scales and dark blue hair. She misses that. That was her everyday normal, and now she was completely different. Now she had to go to school and be stared at because she was pink. No, she doesn't think she can do this after all… maybe one more week of school off to recover and try to control these new accessories of hers.

Wendy leaves the bathroom and walks downstairs. She'll tell them she's not feeling well, Mest will understand, her mother will try and fight her, but she will win in the end. Wendy climbs down the stairs and walks into the kitchen.

"Hey guys, I'm not feeling very-ah!" She gasps putting her hand over her mouth.

Mest was sitting down on the table, cheeks full of waffles, his fluffy tail waving behind him with a bright pink stripe running down it.

"Mmogrhning-" he mumbles out before swallow, "morning love, you look beautiful today as always."

"Mest! What happened to your tail?!" She exclaims running over to it.

"What? Nothing, now we both match. That's all." He smirks at her.

"Mest!"

"It's washable, don't worry. Thought you might be nervous your first day back, I know I was. Thought we could stand as a united pink force." He chuckles.

Wendy feels a giant smile appear on her face; she throws her arms around Mest's shoulders and buries her face into his neck, biting down hard. Mest exclaims and jumps up in his seat.

"Ah! Wendy! Your fangs didn't just suddenly disappear, it still hurts you know!"

"She never grew out of that habit, huh? When she was a baby she used to gnaw on my hand all the time; doctor told me it was completely normal and that's how she shows her love. I used to put bugs and mice in my parent's bed to show my love when I was young."

"Really? I guess compared to that I rather have these love bites."

"I love you Mest! I love you so much! Let's get mated and stay together forever!" She squeals rubbing her face against his neck.

Mest proceeds to choke on his waffle while his future mother-in law squeals out loudly.

"I want grand-puppies!"

* * *

"Poke," Wendy whispers poking the small tail.

Her pup whimpers and wiggles his tail before curling into a tighter ball. She giggles and reaches out to poke him again, but her husband's hand stops her.

"You're going to wake them." He whispers.

"But they're so adorable. I can't help it, we make really cute babies."

Mest's face turns red and her turns away, mad that even after all these years she can reduce him to blushing so easily.

"I like this one the best-"

"Wendy we're not supposed to have favorites-"

"He'll be Mest Jr. and his sister will be Cutie Pie."

"Wendy!" He chuckles.

His mate looks up at him with love in her eyes and smiles, "let's hope she'll grow a tail soon."

"Or scales."

"Mest, you know the chances are barely even 1%. We're going to have to try at least four or five more times."

Mest chokes and turns away, covering his mouth to muffle his coughs. Wendy looks innocently at him and tilts her head to the side.

"What? Do you not want more of these adorable little angels?"

"I'll give you whatever you want Wendy if you promise to stop killing me like this."

"Killing you with love you mean?"

"Of course, with love."

Wendy smiles and reaches for his hand; Mest immediately knows what she wants and allows her to bring it to her lips, gently biting down on it.

"I love you."

"I love you too Mest.

* * *

_The End_


End file.
